History was made in early 2010 when Tomas Sanchez became the very first Garífuna in Guatemala to start blogging. If you are interested in learning about the Garífuna on a deeper level, Garifuna culture and spirituality beyond the tourists' vision, then here is where you need to be. Gain insight into the reality of the Garífunas in Livingston and feel free to leave comments. Thank you for visiting.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Gangadiwali: The Promised Land

Today is January 14th and tomorrow will be the eighty-second year since Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia. I was six years old on April 3, 1968, when the world stood still, forty-three years later. I came across a few words that Dr. King shared with his audience the night before his death:

“Now, I am just happy that God has allowed me to live in this period, to see what is unfolding. And I’m happy that He’s allowed me to be in Memphis”.

Today, I am asking for permission from the Most High, and the spirits of our ancestors to intervene for us with the spirit of Dr. King. I beg for their approval because I would like to say it this way:

“Now, I am just happy that God has allowed me to live in this period, to see what is unfolding. And I’m happy that He’s allowed me to be in Gangadiwali."

Within the next nine days, it will be ten years since I have been living here in Labuga, and if you allow me just a few minutes of your precious time I can share with you some “in-depths” of the Garifuna Reality through the eyes and mind and heart of a Garifuna.

For over nine years I have kept a close eye on issues related with education, tourism, spirituality and agriculture within my community. I am going out on a limb to say this: “The Pharaoh’s system” is alive in Labuga today, for the past nine years we have been fighting for the crumbs and left-overs, however, for the next ten years we hope to see the Garifuna Buckets running over in Gangadiwali.

The origin of the word Gangadiwali is not known here in Labuga, however most Garinagu in Labuga are connected to this small parcel of land through our Ancestors. It has been forty years since the exodus of the Garifuna people from Gangadiwali began.

What caught my attention this morning was the last part of the speech Dr. King made before he was killed. “I just want to do God’s will. And I’ve seen the Promised Land”. What is so interesting about this is that we have an Attention Center on the top of a hill in Gangadiwali, and most Garínagu that stand on top of this hill say the same thing in so many words, “Promised Land”.